Karaite Judaism

Karaite Judaism is a Jewish movement characterized by the recognition of the Tanakh alone as its supreme legal authority in Jewish religious law and theology. In this it is distinct from mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. Karaites maintain that all of the divine commandments handed down to Moses by God were recorded in the written Torah, without additional Oral Law or explanation.

Karaite Judaism developed out of Baghdad and the Middle East, and the Arab Muslim governor of Egypt 'Amr ibn al-'As personally stamped a decree ordering Rabbinic Jewish rabbis to avoid interfering in Karaite matters in 641 AD. Karaism is rooted in the traditions of the Sadducees, the upper social and economic echelon of the Jews in Judea, and the community still has a presence in Israel and Crimea. 30,000-50,000 Karaites resided in Israel in the 21st century, with 40,000 of those coming from Iraq and Egypt. There are also around 2,000 Crimean Karaites, with 1,196 living in Ukraine, 346 in Poland, 241 in Lithuania, and 205 in Russia.